Elevated railroad



Patented Mar. 17,1891.

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. M. JACOBS. ELEVATED RAILROAD.

No. 448,571. Patented Mar. 1'7, 1891.

IllllllllllllllIlllllllllll Hmmm nveov" JN m. .Q A

arten smarts Farrar MARION JACOBS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELsvATEn RAILROAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,571, dated March 17, 18911.

Application filed June 23, 1890. Serial No. 356,508. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARION J AGOBS, of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented a new, novel, and valuablelmprovement in the Construction of Elevated. Railroads, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to elevated railways and it4 consists in various features and details hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In thc accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a portion of an elevated railway constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig."2, a vertical transverse sectional view; Fig. 3, a side view, partly in section; and Figs. 4 and 5, sectional views illustrating certain details.'

In all localities where elevated railroads are constructed or desired for safe and rapid transit the ground upon which the same are or would be' erected is possessed of great value. The unsightly appearance of most structures in use renders them in many respects obj ectionable--that is to say, theysh ut out the light, obstruct travel. and in many other ways materially affect the business interests and depreciate the value of real estate thereof.

The object of my invention is to overcome these objections, iirst, by constructing two or more elevated tracks upon a new and novel plan that will not be required to occupy more than uve feet of space, (more or less;) second, by furnishing a superstructure of iron and steel, the leading feature of which will enable me to place one track above the other in a substantial manner and do away with cross-ties or Hoor-beams, and thereby more readily admit the rays of light; third, on one side of the superstructure and adjacent to thc business property I construct a walk or clevated roadway for pedestrians, which would not only relieve the street but render the upper rooms of business property in close proximity more desirable and in like manner add to the value of adjacent real estate.

A A indicate suitable standards or supports,which carry the superstructure. These supports comprise beams o, which will advisably be made of channeled iron and be crossed at or about the middle, the flanges being cut away at the point of crossing, as in Figs. l.

and 2, to permit the beams to be brought closely together and firmly bolted or otherwise connected, or they may have their iiat faces laid together, as in Fig. 3, and bolted together. The lower ends of these standards project into the ground, and will be anchored to blocks or sills B, advisably of stone, embedded in the ground some distance below the surface, as shown in Fig. 2. The superstructure is independent of these uprights or supports, but is firmly bolted to their upper ends, a construction and arrangement which permits of the space or distance between the standards or u prights being varied, as desired or rendered necessary. Ordinarily the standards will be placed about seventy-live feet apart; but where they are placed at greater distances, or even at the `distance mentioned, it may be found advisable to use in connection with the crossed beams an upright beam or standard b, as shown in Fig. 2, the said standard l) being bolted to the crossed standards.

The superstructure comprises an approximately-rectangular frame C, supporting two tracks D and E, one directly above the other. The longitudinal beams, girders, or chords F F and G G of the frame C are of form in cross-section, as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 5, the inwardly-prejecting iiangcs c c and d d of the girders supporting the rails of the tracks. The outwardly projecting anges c e of the lower girders F F rest upon the upper ends of the uprights or standards A A, to which lat-ter they are securely bolted, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. Resting upon the upper face of and securely bolted to the outwardly-prejecting flanges e e of the girders or beams F F are upright posts or columns Il, (which, advisably, will bc made of :I shape in cross-section,) the upper ends of the said posts or columns being similarly `bolted to the under faces of the outwardlyprojecting flanges ffof the upper girders or beams G G, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. These posts or uprights H are braced by suitable rods orbraces I, as shown in Figs. l and 3.

Extending transversely across the upper part ot the frame'Cis a series of beams or girders J, (preferably of 'T' form in cross-secti0n,) which are bolted at their ends to the inwardly-projecting flanges d d of the longi- ICO tudinal beams G G'. A similar series of beams It" extends transversely across the lower part of the superstructure, the ends of the beams or girders being bolted to the inwardly-projecting flanges c c of the longitudinal beams F F', as shown in Fig. 2

The longitudinal beams F F' G the cross-beams J K, and the upright posts II and their braces I form a tubular structure at once light and capable of sustaining a considerable crushing` strain or weight. 'lhe longitudinalbeams will be made up of sections of suitable length bolted together, and when thus made up form continuous girders extending throughout the entire length of the structure, a feature I deem of considerable importance in structures of this character, as it enables mc to vary the form, construction, and arrangement of the supports A A for the superstructure, which cannot well be done under present plans.

Projecting from the side or sides of the su perstructure about 011 line with the lower track are brackets or supports L, which carry a walk M, as shown in Figs. l, 2, and $3. This walk or platform extends throughout the length of the superstructure, and will be provided with steps, by means of which it may be reached from the street, as clearly shown in Fig. l. VUpon referenceto this figure it will also be noticed that there are several branches or branch walks or platforms j, which extend from the main walk or platform directly to the windowordoorof thebuildings upon either side of the street. These platforms will generally be found to be about on a level with the second iloorof the building, and are designed for the purpose of enabling the passengers to pass directly from the elevated structure into stores on cithersidc ofthe street in which the structure is erected without having to go down stairs and walk along the dirty and crowded pavements,a plan which also serves to relieve the streets of their crowded condition. The beams carrying these branch walks or platforms Nwill aid materially in preventing lateral vibration of the superstructure.

Station-houses will of course be employed, but they will be higher than usual in order that passengers may pass from the upper i l l track to the lower track, and vice versa. It may also be found desirable to provide an upper walk or balcony in some places. but the advantages arising from its use would hardly be sufficient to justify the -expense and the increased weight put upon the structure.

At the ends of the structure there will be suitable elevators or hoisting apparatus, by means of which the trains may be raised and lowered from one track to the other, but as said devices form no part of the present invention they are not herein illustrated or described.

From the foregoing description it Will be seen that I possess a structure that is strong, compact, and, comparatively speaking, cheap, and one that possesses material novel features not attainable with the constructions now in use.

IVhile I have shown and described what I Consider the preferred form of channeled iron to be used in the construction of the standards, upright posts, and cross-beams, Ido not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the use of such particular forms of irons, as it is obvious that other forms may be used.

Having thus described my invention. what I claim is l. In au elevated-railway structure, the combination, with suitable supports or standards, of a superstructure C, having the longitudinal I -shaped track-supporting chords, and rails resting upon the chords, all substantially as shown.

2. In combination with the 1 -shaped chords F F' G G', the cross-beams or girders, and the upright posts or columns.

23. In combination with the supporting` uprights or standards, the L -shaped chords F F', resting` upon the standards and carrying the track I). posts or columns II, resting upon the chords F F', L -shaped chords G G', resting upon the upper ends of the columns II and carrying the track E, and crossbeams connecting` the chords F F and G G'.

MARION JACOBS.

NVitnesses;

WM. 1I. MCSURELY, MARY A. STUART. 

